The Descent
by The Fish Meister
Summary: The team are trapped in a cabin, a serial killer lurks outside, is he working alone? One member of the team has a choice, but can that member kill to save the others?
1. Chapter 1  Arrival

The team were en route to a small town up in the snowier region of Nevada, named Hogtown. Three murders had been reported over the last week, all having taken place at night in the woods surrounding this remote little town.

Victims had been ambushed either from within or only just outside their homes and they had been beaten over the course of several hours and left hanging from trees for passers by to find.

The team were all seated in the jet looking over the case file. Reid and JJ were sitting opposite each other on the table seats by the window. Garcia was next to JJ rhythmically tapping her laptop as she looked over the DNA and lab results being updated as they flew. Morgan was opposite Garcia, they always sat together, unconsciously or consciously they did it and they were never more comfortable than when they were together. Hotch stood next to a seated Prentiss across the little walkway from the team, Hotch radiating authority and Prentiss the embodiment of calm and collected.

"This Un-Sub is methodical and meticulous but prone to outbursts of rage, suggesting they are in a position of powerlessness or inferiority in their everyday life" Reid reeled. "This kind of organised abduction and brutality are not normally seen together in psychotic individuals".

"So you think we got more than one Un-Sub?" Morgan looked expectantly to Reid. "I think it's possible" Reid speculated.

* * *

><p>The team arrived to find a fresh layer of snow quilting the ground as they drove to meet the local sheriff. Reid shivered in his thin cardigan, he liked the snow but hated the cold, Morgan took it in his stride, a bit of snow couldn't hurt him. The rest of the team seemed to have come prepared, they were wrapped up and ready for the snow.<p>

"Hey, I'm Sheriff Levi". A tall, well built gentleman with greying hair and a particularly bushy moustache. "It's too late for you to start working the case tonight, I have a small cabin which would suit your team nicely for the night, and you can catch up in the morning."

"Thank you" Hotch stated emotionlessly, he wanted to get started as soon as possible and he wanted this delay to last as little as was possible, although he did want his team to rest, his paternal concern for them was greater than his need to work and so it would ease his mind to know they had rested and eaten before getting to work.

The drive was an hour up a deserted, windy mountain road and uncomfortably deep in the heart of the forest where their victims had been found. "Sorry about the proximity to the murders but this was the best I could do with you coming so fast." The Sheriff mumbled while opening the large wooden door of the cabin he owned.

The team thanked him and he left them to figure out where they were going to sleep, he had lied when he said it was small. It was big enough for each team member to have their own rooms, there were three floors, the top had two large bedrooms with en suite bathrooms in which Hotch and Prentiss settled down, the doors being adjacent to one another. The next floor down had three bedrooms on it in which Reid, Morgan and Garcia stayed, Garcia had insisted on being near Morgan and he wasn't going to let his baby girl out of his sight being so close to the dump sites, he was going to protect her no matter what. Reid had chosen his room due to the fact that it contained a large bookshelf which he could peruse while falling asleep.

JJ and Rossi took the ground floor bedrooms, they took extra care to lock all of the windows and doors and kept their guns on them at all times, they knew nobody could possibly get to them in this weather but it never hurt to be careful either.

* * *

><p>As the snow whirled around the cabin Morgan and Garcia turned off the movie they had been watching together and bid each other goodnight, Reid slipped into sleep still holding the third book he'd read that night, Rossi finished tossing a few ideas around for an opening chapter to his next book, JJ gazed longingly at a photograph of Henry and Will saying goodnight as she slipped it back into her purse and switched off her light. Prentiss was working on learning an obscure tribal language but had given up for the night; she was tired but she would be fluent with just a few more days practice.<p>

Hotch was looking over the details of the case again, it concerned him that the murders had taken place within or just outside the victims houses, his team were now possible targets and it made him uncomfortable, he had confidence in them though and he put his worries to rest as sleep overcame him.

The snow grew deeper as the night matured and by morning it had rendered the one road out of there inaccessible. The team didn't know it yet but they were trapped, with no hope of escaping. One person did know however, the man who'd been watching them since they arrived, the man who had killed three people, and the man who had selected his next targets, seven to be precise. His only problem would be deciding which to kill first.

He circled the cabin slowly, he had deciphered which rooms the agents had slept in and planned to watch them and figure out their vulnerabilities. They would be snowed in for two weeks at the least if the snow stopped now, but that didn't look likely, he had as much time as he could hope for to plan this murder.

* * *

><p>Reid awoke first, bright and early at 6.30am, his alarm was set for seven but since he was up he decided to take advantage of the extra half hour and go downstairs and make an attempt at cooking breakfast.<p>

His door creaked loudly as he tiptoed out of his room and past Morgan's door. There were two staircases leading downstairs, one was concealed behind a small door and led straight to the sitting room whereas the other was adjacent to Garcia's room, wasn't concealed and was carpeted.

He chose the latter. He didn't trust the hidden stairs, nor did he think the rest of the team were even aware of its presence. He sneaked down slowly freezing at every sound his footsteps made, determined not to wake his sleeping teammates. They deserved to sleep in peace.

He reached the bottom of the stairs safely and relaxed a little, unaware of the presence watching him he went to the fridge, in it were two cartons of milk, twelve eggs, some butter, a few rashers of bacon and assorted vegetables in the crisper. Without a second thought he reached for the eggs, if there was one thing he could cook it was scrambled eggs, the team would be able to wake up to a nice cooked breakfast before the day began.

He worked his way around the kitchen grabbing the ingredients he was going to use, he was fiddling with the stove when he heard a noise behind him, the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end and he turned suddenly reaching for a gun which wasn't there, his eyes met the intruder's and he gasped.

"Hello Reid".


	2. Chapter 2  Distress

Reid clutched at his chest, breathing hard from the fright he had just had. "Hello Reid" Rossi said thoroughly amused at the kids visible reaction.

"Rossi you scared me! Why didn't you say something when I first came down?" He cried slightly irritated at having dropped an egg in his panic.

"I've always had a flare for the dramatic" Rossi chuckled. "Scrambled eggs…original." He said sarcastically. He was red in the face from laughing at the young man's entrance.

"Yeah well that was your egg" Reid sneered causing Rossi to laugh loudly again. "What are you doing up so early anyway?" Reid tried to steer the conversation away from himself.

"Nightmare" the older man looked down, seeming ashamed of admitting such a normal thing.

"You wanna talk about it?" Reid asked, concerned. He was always concerned for others and always ready to help when someone needed something. Rossi supposed it was due to the fact that nobody had cared for him when he was a child. He knew how much it would have meant if someone had cared enough to ask and Rossi admired him for modelling that in his adult life rather than becoming bitter about it as many lesser men may have done.

"I dreamed that our team was drowning." Rossi started "at first I could see you all and I was trying to reassure everyone, but then one by one you disappeared from view until I was alone and someone grabbed me from under the water, they pulled me down and I fought to keep my head up but they were too strong… and then I woke up".

Reid thought for a moment and was about to reply when he was interrupted by the thud of feet on the stairs, Garcia wandered in, a pink sleep mask depicting two eyes was sitting on her forehead, her eyes were half opened and she grumbled loudly as she walked.

"…and I need every minute of sleep I can get, so whoever it is down there better have an damn good reason for disturbing my dream time with an uber hot stud willing to fulfil my every wish!" She looked at the puzzled and slightly awkward looking couple in the kitchen and groaned.

"Whatever you're cooking better taste amazing Dr Reid" She looked at the kid standing there in his nightclothes and the mess of ingredients behind him, chuckling at him. He was so intelligent but always managed to appear young and innocent, Garcia loved that about him.

Reid turned almost automatically and started preparing the one meal he knew he couldn't mess up, he'd practically lived on scrambled eggs at University, his mom had taught him how to cook it when he was young, they used to enjoy it together every Sunday morning until she decided that the eggs all contained tracking devices placed there by the government. He missed those Sundays.

Rossi cleared up the broken egg since it seemed Reid had forgotten all about it. Garcia gazed out of the large window sighing, "It's so beautiful isn't it?"

"Yes you are" Morgan called from the stairs chuckling; he was far too awake for this time in the morning.

"Good morning lover" Garcia chirped, visibly happier now Morgan had entered the room.

"Good morning baby girl" Morgan sang "you are looking divine this morning" Morgan laughed looking at Garcia's unusual pjs.

Reid finished up his scrambled eggs and shovelled them onto a large plate so the team could help themselves. Morgan was the first in there grabbing three large spoonfuls and helping himself to some of the toast Rossi had made while Reid cooked. He then grabbed a second plate and filled it with food drawing looks from Reid and Rossi as he set the second plate down in the place next to his at the large varnished wooden dining table. "For you, goddess of the morning" he gestured to Garcia and she grinned contentedly as she ate next to him.

JJ stirred from her sleep to smell fresh coffee being brewed, she stretched and got up to go to the bathroom and wash, savouring the heavenly smells coming from the kitchen. She was dressed and ready in no time and entered the kitchen to see Morgan playfully tickling Garcia, Reid laughing along with an open book by his side and Rossi reading the paper with a steaming cup of coffee by him, he looked very grandfatherly as the younger agents behaved like children before him.

JJ strode cheerfully in to the sound of her teammates warm welcome, she was in the best mood and the team only made it better. She grabbed some toast and perused the cupboards to find some jam to smear on the top, Prentiss joined the team also in a cheery mood, she grabbed one of JJ's slices of toast and took a bite provoking a playful smack of the hand from the agent.

Hotch was the last downstairs, he was already dressed in his suit and had his briefcase packed and ready to go, unlike the rest of the team Hotch looked completely serious, he didn't grab himself any breakfast. He went straight to the front door opened it and sighed in frustration.

"What's wrong?" Rossi called. "We're snowed in" Hotch called back. Reid ran to the door to have a look, the small road on which they had travelled was deeper in snow than Reid was tall, the trees had protected the cabin and its immediate vicinity from becoming deeper than ankle height in snow.

"Reid, how long will that take to melt?" Hotch asked masking his frustration. "I'd say at least 3 weeks provided no more snow falls, in which case it could be much longer." Hotch dropped his briefcase and reached for his phone.

"No service" he grumbled. "Reid try and phone for Sheriff Levi, we won't be able to help with the case in person." Reid went as instructed and found no dial tone. "Phones are down" he called.

"Do we have a radio?" Hotch called back sounding panicked now. "Yeah we do!" Morgan hollered from the kitchen. "Good radio the Sheriff's office and ask if there's any way we can get out of here that doesn't require that road." Hotch ordered.

* * *

><p>Alex had been watching the team all morning, he had been delighted when they had been informed that there was no hope of rescue, they would have to wait the snow out and that there was no way of getting food up to them any time soon.<p>

He had made a few determinations since he had begun watching them, firstly the boy, Agent Reid was the weakest physically, and he liked to separate himself from the others, he wouldn't be a threat and would be easy to pick off. Secondly the chubbier blonde woman, Garcia as she had been called was the weakest mentally, he could scare her easily but he also knew that the strongest guy, Morgan never took his eyes off her, so he would have to separate them if he wanted to target Garcia. Thirdly their leader, Hotch was quiet and greatly agitated by their situation, which meant he wasn't on his guard and so would be easy to surprise. Morgan was the strength of the team, but he could take him using his protectiveness. He can't protect everyone at once and he could use this to break him down and make him feel like he'd let someone down. The old man, Rossi was very impassive and peaceful, he wouldn't be able to put up much of a fight if challenged and Alex was confident of his chances as long as he planned his attacks well.

He was going to start by scaring the youngest and the sweetest, Reid and Garcia, he determined that the team would be sufficiently distressed should anything happen to those two agents.

* * *

><p>The team had been pretty calm since the news had come in that they weren't leaving anytime soon, Morgan had decided to treat it like a holiday and everyone except Hotch had been perfectly happy to go along with it, why not take the time to relax? There wasn't anything else they could be doing right now anyway.<p>

Morgan and Garcia had gone outside to built a snowman they had a good sized body built and were now working on the head, Reid was now joining them to help construct a face from the most effective materials.

Garcia ran towards the trees which surrounded them to find a few pebbles, breaking the eye-line of the guys she picked up a few to make the mouth of the snowman, she knelt down to pick up another one and stood up to come face to face with a stranger, she cried out and fell backwards.

"I'm not going to kill you…yet" The man grinned darkly. Garcia screamed and his fist came down knocking her out cold, he reached into her pocket and grabbed what he had come for. With that he vanished into the tree's leaving Garcia where she lay.

Morgan had heard the scream and taken off without waiting for back up, he sprinted into the woods leaping over a large tree root in a single bound, he unholstered his gun and called for Garcia frantically.

He came across her lying limply on the ground and holstered his gun, not caring about his own safety he lifted her up as though she weighed nothing and carried her back to the cabin, Reid had alerted the other agents of the danger and they went to search for the man while Morgan took Garcia to her room.

He lay her carefully on her bed and checked her pulse, she was breathing.

"Baby girl." Morgan said softly "can you hear my voice?". Garcia's eyes opened slowly and confusion creased her features.

"Morgan?" She whispered as tears began to fall down her bruised cheek.

"I'm right here Penelope" he returned stroking her forehead tenderly. "Who did this to you?"

"I didn't recognise him, he said he wasn't going to kill me…yet" she shook as her emotions took over and she sobbed violently.

Morgan shushed her softly "he's not going to touch you baby girl, you hear me? No one is going to get anywhere near you because I am gonna be right there waiting for him, you hear me?" Garcia buried her head in his chest unaware that her key to the cabin was now in the hands of her attacker and his game had only just begun.

* * *

><p>Alex was ready. Before nightfall he had been signalled by his contractor, he was ready to start the game.<p>

He waited until every one of the team were asleep, Agent Morgan was now sharing a room with Garcia as planned, he would be fully concentrating on Garcia and Reid would be easy pickings. He crept into the house and to the foot of the concealed flight of stairs, none of the agents would be aware of it and he could slip into Reid's room undetected.

The young agent was sleeping soundly, he was curled up in a ball with a book by his side, Alex padded silently towards him and quietly lifted the agent's gun from the dresser by his bed. He pressed it to his temple and shook him awake.

"Listen kid" Alex hissed "we have your mother, if you ever want to see her alive again you will do exactly as I say, if you deviate from my rules, he will give the orders and she will die, understand?".

"He?" Reid gasped.


	3. Chapter 3 Choices

Reid's mind raced, Alex had said they, so he wasn't working alone, he was too organised to be in a psychotic break from reality, so there had to genuinely be another person, he had to figure out who that was. He thought about his mother, could they have her? He doubted it, but was he prepared to take that risk?

Alex flashed a picture of Reid's mother in front of his face, she was tied to a chair, her face was tear streaked and the left side of her face was bruised. Reid's eyes widened and tears filled them, his mother, the most loving, gentle woman had been subjected to this because of him. He was responsible for reducing her life to the walls of the sanitarium and now he was going to be responsible for ending it as well. He couldn't have that on his conscience, he couldn't do this to her again.

"What do you want me to do?" Reid gasped, Alex had his arm pressed firmly against his throat. Tears rolled down Reid's face increasing Alex's excitement.

"You are going to kill Agent Hotchner." He sneered clearly enjoying himself. "Or I am going to kill the rest of your team".

"no" Reid snapped panic building up within him, he couldn't kill Hotch but he also couldn't let his mother and team suffer. He had to think of a way out of this.

* * *

><p>A loud noise woke Morgan up with a start; he told Garcia to stay in the room and went to investigate. He opened the bedroom door and heard a crash downstairs, the front door of the cabin then slammed shut.<p>

Morgan drew his gun and slowly headed downstairs, he heard a noise above him and turned, it was Hotch and Prentiss, they had heard it too. The three agents descended the stairs, Morgan's senses were heightened and adrenaline was pumping through his veins.

Prentiss was the first to spot the blood by the font door of the cabin, there wasn't a great deal but it was splattered from the door of one of the downstairs bedrooms and the front door. "Who's room is that?" Hotch whispered to Prentiss.

"It's Rossi's" She whispered back.

"Prentiss check that bedroom and Morgan come with me to check out this blood trail" They moved exactly as Hotch had ordered them too, no need for a reply or to think twice.

Morgan opened the door, surprised that it had been left unlocked, snow was falling heavily but there were still definitive drag marks on the ground leading into the woods surrounding the cabin.

"stay close" Hotch ordered as they followed the trail which was slowly disappearing before their eyes, they reached the edge of the woods and the trail went dead, Morgan shone his torch ahead of him to see if there were any more clues as to who had left the trail and why they had been there.

* * *

><p>Prentiss approached Rossi's door slowly, she pushed it open to find the room in a state of chaos, she flicked on the light switch and saw JJ lying facedown on the floor by her gun, a small trickle of blood snaked down her forehead. There was no sign of Rossi whatsoever.<p>

Prentiss turned JJ and checked her pulse, she was breathing. "JJ can you hear me?" Prentiss called. JJ's eyes fluttered open and she grimaced.

The memories flooded back to JJ like a bad dream, the loud crash, getting up to investigate, the blood, her friends limp body and then darkness. She grimaced at the memory and sat up swiftly, making her dizzy and nauseous.

She looked up at Prentiss; she saw her lips moving but couldn't hear the words coming out of her mouth.

"JJ can you tell me what happened?" Prentiss repeated. JJ wrapped her arms around Prentiss who helped her to stand and took her to the sitting room.

* * *

><p>Reid was in his room, he had heard the gunshot go off after the stranger had left. He had been locked in and left with a photograph of his mother, scared and alone.<p>

The unsub's words were sweeping around Reid's mind. _"I am going to kill the rest of the team". _Reid had refused him, he had said it before he even had chance to think and he knew one of his team members had paid for it. _"One every night until you end his life, starting now". _

Reid had been unable to stop him, he had shouted for help when the gunshot went off but nobody heard him, someone was dead and it was his fault. He had to think of a way to make the unsub think Hotch was dead, without actually harming him, he couldn't be responsible for the destruction of another life.

* * *

><p>"Rossi's missing" Prentiss informed Morgan and Hotch upon their return.<p>

"The trail went dead" Morgan sounded frustrated and tired.

"Has anyone seen Reid?" Hotch asked. Without a word Morgan leapt up the stairs he tried Reid's door and found that it was stuck.

"Reid, man you ok?" he called. "Morgan, I'm locked in" Reid called back pathetically, he couldn't tell Morgan anything about the unsub which had visited him during the night, the man had forbidden that but he had to find a way to let Morgan know without telling him directly.

Morgan kicked the door knocking it completely off its hinges, "Reid what happened?" he blurted rushing to the kids side, he could see the distress on Reid's face as if it was labelled.

"Is someone hurt?" Reid mumbled not looking directly at Morgan.

"We don't know for sure, Rossi is missing and JJ's been hurt but she'll be fine" Reid was out of the room in a shot, he rushed down the stairs to see JJ, she was reclining on the couch with a make-shift ice pack on her head which Prentiss had fashioned from a plastic bag and some snow and ice from outside.

Reid rushed to her and took her hand gently, a single tear fell from his eyes "I'm so sorry" he whispered.

"Its ok Reid, there's nothing you could've done and I'm ok" JJ looked into his eyes and her voice took on the tone of a mother calming down a small child.

Reid got up to fix JJ a drink and saw Hotch talking to Morgan, he saw the concern in Hotches eyes, it was 5am and Reid had to figure something out by the time Hotch was in bed otherwise someone else would lose their life because of him.

* * *

><p>Earlier<p>

Rossi awoke with a start, two men loomed over him in his bed, one carrying a video camera and the other a gun, no…Reid's gun.

"Come with us" The camera man spat. "Why don't we just talk about this" Rossi had reasoned, "here I'll grab you a scotch and we can talk".

"No!" The man with the gun yelled. "That's not how the game works!".

"Where's agent Reid?" Rossi asked, he was answered with a bullet to his shoulder, knocking him backwards. The bedroom door swung wide open and JJ came in with her gun at the ready. Rossi had been unable to talk or warn her, she was struck on the head with Reid's gun, falling to the ground.

The gunman grabbed Rossi and dragged him from the bedroom and out into the night. The snow swirling about their heads melted in Rossi's hair and blood stained the ground red.

Rossi heard shouts, a man, and he saw a torch being shone in his direction, he was dropped by the gunman and him and the video camera man, who had caught the whole thing on tape, opened a large door concealed beneath a tree, where little snow could fall to trap them in.

They threw him down first, he landed hard on his already painful shoulder and cried out, he was dragged down a concrete corridor and into a large room with eight sets of shackles lining the walls, Rossi's eyes widened as they shackled his hands and feet, he held his wound to try and stem the blood flow. He looked at the figure occupying one of the other sets of shackles, he was sure he'd seen her before but he couldn't place where.

A picture was projected onto the wall Reid's room, it was dark, Alex pressing his arm to his neck, the woman began to wail in the corner. A picture was handed to Reid, it was the woman in the corner, it was Reid's mother!

There was only one man in Reid's room, the other had been hiding in what appeared to be a secret staircase in the hallway which Rossi hadn't even noticed. He froze as the man told him to kill Hotch and then headed off to prove his point by kidnapping him.

Reid thinks he's dead, would he work it out? Or would he kill Agent Hotchner? The kid couldn't live with himself if he did and then discovered he didn't save anyone's life.

"We're all going to die" Reid's mother whispered from her corner.

"We are all going to die"


	4. Chapter 4 Tradgedy

3pm

The team were working on finding out who took Rossi, there were notes and pieces of paper strewn across the table. The case file from the previous murders was open and the team were deducing whether or not they were linked with Rossi's kidnapping.

Reid was clutching his gun tightly; he was staring into the door of Rossi's bedroom, which of his friends would be taken tonight? How long could he hold out before

Slowly Reid began to formulate a plan; he had to be one step ahead of the gunman, his thoughts drifted back to the first three victims found nearby. They had been beaten over several hours, was that what Rossi was going through now? Was he suffering because of him?

"Reid!" Morgan shouted for the third time, Reid looked up to see the concerned faces of his teammates staring back.

"We need your head here man, we can't find Rossi without you" Morgan's words stirred up fresh feelings of guilt, he wouldn't be in this mess if it wasn't for him. The team kept working on the profile and case files until late in the evening and as they began to reluctantly retire to rest Reid knew what he had to do.

* * *

><p>Rossi had been trying to get Reid's mother to talk for hours, he knew she was mentally unstable but the stress of being here and seeing her sons ordeal had aggravated her condition and caused her to have an aggressive psychotic episode; she had no idea where she was and kept repeating her earlier words "We're all going to die".<p>

The gunman, who had introduced himself to Rossi as Alex entered the room now for the third time, he was setting up a tripod, there was no sign of the earlier cameraman which Rossi perceived as strange.

Alex mounted the camera and hit record, he approached Rossi lifting a muscled hand and bringing it down hard, Rossi recoiled in pain and spat out a tooth along with a little blood, Alex grinned with pleasure at Rossi's response and kicked him in the gut, his being chained up allowed him to go on until he had no strength left.

Alex brought down a final blow to Rossi's wounded shoulder and turned casually lifting the camera.

"Don't worry, blondie and your brunette friends will be joining you tonight, ladies first I always say" he left Rossi with a wink and locked the door, Rossi waited and saw the live feed come in from the cabin.

He saw Alex obviously being filmed by his partner again enter the house swiftly and easily, he had a key, how could he possibly have gotten a key? Rossi thought to himself, he saw the duo approach JJ's room, the door opened painfully slowly they approached the bed, Rossi willed JJ to wake up but she didn't.

The couple pulled back the covers to reveal a few pillows under there in the shape of a person and before they could do anything else Rossi heard Hotch and Prentiss' voices.

"Don't move!" they cried. "Put down the gun and turn around slowly!" Prentiss ordered. The duo complied and Rossi saw the camera hit the floor with a loud crash and the picture died

* * *

><p>Reid had done it; he had been able to subtly tell Hotch what was going on, it was a long shot he'd had to use Prentiss to do it. Reid had explained the situation in the guise of a thesis written in Latin, the only language he knew, he had left it on the table and prayed that someone would read it before nightfall. Prentiss as it happened knew Latin and casting a cursory glance over the young doctor's work saw a word which drew her attention… "auxilio", help.<p>

Hotch and Prentiss had them cornered, they hadn't informed the other three team members of the plan, the more discreet the better, Prentiss handcuffed Alex and Hotch attempted to restrain the camera man. The men yelled profanities at the two agents awakening a sleeping Morgan from his slumber who sped down the stairs gun in hand.

He holstered his weapon seeing that the men were restrained, Garcia followed with a very relieved looking Reid, she was holding onto his hand and let go when she saw nothing was amiss.

"You two have a lot of explaining to do!" Morgan spat at the men with venom. Hotch and Prentiss walked the men to the dinner table where the team had eaten together merrily just a few days earlier, now scattered with papers and profiles.

"Where is Agent Rossi?" Prentiss asked the men sternly.

"You gonna tell her John?" The first man sneered.

"Why don't you tell her Alex" The camera man shot back, they were mocking the team.

Reid watched from a far corner JJ and Garcia having heard what really happened to him were holding each of his hands and JJ was stroking his hair like she did when Henry was upset.

The interrogation had been going on for hours with no progress. Rossi was still missing and daylight was beginning to break. The pair of fiends looked out of the large window opposite the table and grinned.

"You'll be seeing your friend very soon" John smiled.

With that the window behind them shattered and a bullet entered Prentiss' shoulder, Hotch caught her as she fell to the floor and the team sprang into action, Reid pulled his gun, which had been retrieved from Alex earlier and took cover behind a kitchen counter with Garcia and JJ.

Morgan shot forward and covered Hotch as he carried Prentiss to cover, bullets flew into the kitchen and into the counter. Morgan grabbed Garcia and took her swiftly upstairs to her room, she was upset and emotional, Morgan held her close.

"It's ok baby girl I'm staying right here with you, no one is gonna hurt you" he turned to see Reid had followed. Morgan and the young agent stood guns ready as the gunfire ceased.

The hail of bullets relented and three men and a woman entered through the damaged window, one of the four, a butch alpha male hit Alex hard in the face before pressing a gun to his head.

"You better come out agents, or I'm going to paint the wall with Alex's brain!" he boomed. His voice was deep and authoritative; he and the others were clad in bullet proof vests and dark clothing.

Hotch and JJ helped Prentiss up, she was losing blood and becoming increasingly weak. Hotch and JJ reluctantly surrendered their weapons, JJ removed Prentiss' and placed it on the counter. The trio surrendered and the assailants used their cuff keys to free Alex and John.

Alex rubbed his bruised face and the woman tugged JJ's hands behind her back she used her handcuffs to restrain her and two other men did the same to Hotch and Prentiss causing her to cry out.

"Can't you see she's hurt?" Hotch yelled at the man restraining her, he was answered with a blow to the face. Hotch didn't stop pleading for Emily as her shirt became saturated in her blood.

Three of the new men took JJ, Hotch and Prentiss out towards the hidden entrance while the woman, Alex and John headed upstairs to collect the others.

"Stay back there baby girl!" Morgan ordered and him and Reid trained their guns on the door. The men burst in knocking the door right off its hinges and fired before anything else could happen. Morgan crashed to the floor.

"Take those two, not him, he's already dead."


	5. Chapter 5 Revival

The team had been shackled for four hours now, Reid had been trying to calm his mother down but she had become hysterical when she saw him forced into the room with the others.

Garcia was weeping silently, shackled next to Reid she looked periodically at the empty shackles opposite which were supposed to be for Morgan she was limp in her restraints, the team could tell she had given up.

Hotch had never looked away from Prentiss since they arrived, she had been bandaged up but the angle her arms were now at in the shackles was causing her considerable pain.

"I'm fine Hotch really, you have more than me to worry about" she smiled through the pain.

"I am not going to ignore the fact that you're in pain" he returned the distress could be heard in his voice.

Suddenly the door flew open and Alex strode in looking at each of the agents.

"Now BAU team members, how does it feel to be reunited with your friend?" He grinned at a bruised and battered Rossi.

"And Dr Reid, you have a little family reunion, such a shame Agent Morgan isn't here to enjoy it" Reid looked at Alex, his eyes betrayed the pain he was feeling, filled with tears for his fallen teammate.

Alex relished the look, Reid's pain delighted him.

"You lot presented quite a challenge for me and John after your little genius here let on our plans, well my investors are gone now and you are my toys to play with" Alex finished by unshackling Reid's feet.

"What are you doing?" Reid looked at the man as he raised the level of his arms up, the young genius was now stood completely upright with his arms above his head. John entered with a camera and hit record. Alex's fist flew towards Reid's face, Hotch suddenly lurched forward pulling desperately at his shackles and screaming at Alex.

John turned the camera to capture the reaction grinning menacingly.

Reid whimpered and cried attempting to shrink back from the blows being dealt to him, blood poured down his face and stained his shirt a scarlet red.

"That's it Doctor, show them how pathetic you are, they won't help you." Alex sneered in his ear, he then turned and grabbed Hotch by the throat.

"You can't protect them Agent Hotchner, anymore than you protected me all those years ago!" Hotches confused face enraged Alex and he kicked him in the chest knocking the wind out of him. As he gasped for air Alex let out a groan of pleasure.

"Now I didn't bring you here just to sit around, I have a game for you to play. Garcia I think you can go first!" He grinned at the rest of the teams protective expressions but frowned when he saw no reaction from Garcia.

JJ looked at her friend, usually the last to give up hope, she was slumped in a way which told the team she didn't care what happened now. One single tear fell from JJ's eye as she looked at her broken friend, the loss of Morgan was a shock but for Penelope it had been the end.

Alex took her out of her shackles and forced her into the middle of the room, she stood hunched and shaking, Alex waved John out of the room with the camera and stood in the doorway.

"If you don't perk up soon I'm going to kill you before we get started" he grinned. Upon receiving no response from Garcia he became enraged.

"Who would have thought that killing one pathetic Agent would ruin the fun this much! What was so special about him! He was nothing just like all of you!" he screamed, his entire face turned red and the veins in his forehead bulged.

Garcia's head snapped up suddenly, tears were flowing freely down her cheeks and she took a step towards her captor and began to speak.

"To you he may be nothing" she began. "But to me he is everything, I love him and he loves me, he protects me and this team, he laid down his life in defence of me and I would lay down mine for him. He is my solace and sole source of light in the darkness that is this world and you!... you extinguished his fire in one breath, at the same time extinguishing mine, my heart bleeds for him even now and you presume to tell me he was nothing!" she gasped for air as the pain overwhelmed her again.

"He was my hero" she whimpered in conclusion.

"And I always come back for my baby girl" Alex was struck around the head and fell limp to the floor. The rest of the team trained their eyes on the figure standing before them, was it him? Dared they believe their own eyes.

Garcia reacted first; she ran forward and wrapped her arms around him tears soaking into his shirt.

"I thought I would never see you again!" She managed. Morgan wiped the fresh tears from her face.

"It takes more than a bullet to keep me from my girl" Morgan replied. His shirt was stained with blood and he gasped slightly, as Garcia embraced him tightly.

"It's ok his shot was too far left and he didn't injure me too badly" he said seeing Garcia's concerned look. The pair then set about freeing the others; Morgan had taken John out and acquired the keys already.

Hotch ran straight to Prentiss' side and fussed her despite her repeated claims that she was fine, JJ helped Reid to walk and Morgan assisted Rossi, Reid's hair was matted with blood and his breathing was wheezy, he needed to be checked over by a doctor, JJ was concerned about internal bleeding but Reid, like Prentiss insisted he was fine and went to comfort his mother who was hysterical after seeing his beating.

Despite this small victory and their being released from the shackles, their trial was nowhere near over yet.


End file.
